Prior Art Background
Gift cards can be perceived as a quintessential cop-out gift, pegging the gift-giver as lazy or impersonal. While that may be true of the preloaded value cards that big chain stores put out and that can be found in virtually every drugstore now, small businesses have the advantage of developing gift card offerings that are good for more than just cash on a card. However, current gift card offerings do not provide a convenient method to purchase the gift card except to physically visit the store.
A fixed-money amount for a gift card limits the gift giver in what they are able to spend. Typically people have long holiday gifts lists and a budget for how much they want to spend on each person, but they will be more likely to spend $150 if they know, for example, that they are buying someone a deluxe spa package. However, most gift cards available in stores have a logo or print with the face value of the card. Therefore, there is a need for a customizable gift card available to customers at a convenient location.
Often times, the people who are buying gift cards are not the regular customers. So if they do not know anything about the business, then they are not going to know how much to spend. Providing customers with the opportunity to purchase different types of packages helps them feel like they are providing a more personalized gift. Therefore, there is a need for providing customizable and personalized gift card options to consumers.
Convenience plays a big role in the purchasing of gift cards during the holidays. While not everyone buys their gifts online, most people will at some point be browsing the web for gift ideas during these final weeks, and the more they come across a particular website while shopping, the better. Anyone can easily go to the big box stores for the standard gift offerings, but most people would rather give a gift that is local to the recipient and shows that they put some thought into the purchase.
Customers enjoy the sheer convenience of sending the certificate in an email with a personalized message, or if they are seeing the person they can print out the certificate and hand it to them. Either way, there is an element of personalization to it because it is possible to write a selected message and choose the background for the certificate. Therefore, there is a need for a personalizing gift cards at a local convenience or retail store kiosk.
Some recipients of gift cards do not necessarily use the cards due to several reasons. Currently, there are no systems to redeem unused gift cards for cash, reduced value gift cards, rewards points, automatic bank debit, or an eCode for applying to online purchases.
Deficiencies in the Prior Art
The prior art as detailed above suffers from the following deficiencies:                Prior art systems do not provide for a convenient method to purchase the gift card except to physically visit the store.        Prior art systems do not provide for customizable gift cards available to customers at a convenient location.        Prior art systems do not provide for providing personalized gift card options to consumers.        Prior art systems do not provide for exchanging unused gift cards for a reduced cash offer.        Prior art systems do not provide for exchanging unused gift cards for a reduced value gift card offer for a preferred gift card of choice.        Prior art systems do not provide for redeeming unused gift cards for a full value store credit.        Prior art systems do not provide for redeeming unused gift cards for rewards points.        Prior art systems do not provide for redeeming unused gift cards for a promotional code that could be used for online purchases.        Prior art systems do not provide for redeeming unused gift cards for a promotional code that could be used at a different location for printing customizable gift cards.        
While some of the prior art may teach some solutions to several of these problems, the core issue of purchasing gift cards at a kiosk has not been addressed by prior art.